File information system management system and method

ABSTRACT

A method and system is provided for editing a file information system of a host device by using a client device connected to the host device via a Near Field Communication (NFC) channel while maintaining the foreground-running application execution screen of the host device. A method for managing a file information system of a host device by using a client device according to the present invention includes establishing a near field communication channel between the client device and the host device; copying the file information system from the host device to the client device; editing, at the client device, the file information system by means of an application selected in the file information system; and updating the file information system stored in the host device with the edited file information system which is transmitted from the client device to the host device.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/530,936 filed on Nov. 3, 2014 which claims the benefit of the earlierU.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/299,933 filed on Nov. 18, 2011 andassigned U.S. Pat. No. 8,903,873 issued on Dec. 2, 2014 which claims thebenefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of an application filed in theKorean Intellectual Property Office on Jan. 10, 2011 and assigned SerialNo. 10-2011-0002256, the contents of which are hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The present invention relates to a method and system for managing a fileinformation system of a host device by means of a client device. Inparticular, the present invention relates to a method and system forediting a file information system of a host device remotely by means ofa client device connected to the host device via a Near FieldCommunication (NFC) channel while maintaining the foreground-runningapplication execution screen of the host device.

2. Description of the Related Art

Recently, mobile terminals are becoming multimedia devices integratingvarious supplementary functions such as electric organizer function,game console function, and schedule manager function. As the number ofsupplementary functions supported by a mobile terminal grows, the userinterface becomes one of the most important feature in managing variousfunctions and services efficiently.

In an exemplary situation where the terminal user is in the middle ofthe voice communication using the mobile terminal, it is necessary forthe user to place the mobile terminal, particularly, a part where thespeaker is positioned, near the user's ear. In such a case, it isimpossible for the user, without removing the mobile terminal from theear, to perform another task such as checking, editing, and saving data(e.g., contact list, schedule, or text message).

Also, the user may encounter a situation where it is necessary to edit amemory or check an incoming text message in the middle of another tasksuch as watching video, surfing website, and listening to MP3 music. Insuch a case, except for the process running on the foreground of whichexecution screen is displayed on the display, the other processes run inthe background without display of their execution screens. This meansthat the user cannot control another application without deactivatingthe foreground-running application.

SUMMARY

In order to solve the problems of the prior art, the present inventionprovides a method and system for editing a file information system of ahost device remotely by means of a client device connected to the hostvia a NFC channel while maintaining the foreground-running applicationexecution screen of the host device.

Also, the present invention provides a method and system for editing afile information system of a host device that is capable of checking andediting a file (e.g., contact list, schedule, or memo) without removingthe mobile terminal from the user's ear in the middle of the voicecommunication.

Another aspect of the invention is displaying content associated withthe editing in the client device, and not in the host device.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a method and system forediting a file information system of a host device that is capable ofreducing the missing probability of the client device coupled to thehost device via a NFC connection by outputting an alarm sound when thedistance between the host and client device becomes greater than apredetermined value.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a method formanaging a file information system of a host device by using a clientdevice includes establishing a near field communication channel betweenthe client device and the host device; copying the file informationsystem from the host device to the client device; editing, at the clientdevice, the file information system by means of an application selectedin the file information system; and updating the file information systemstored in the host device with the edited file information system whichis transmitted from the client device to the host device.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a system formanaging a file information system of a host device by using a clientdevice includes a host device having a file information system whichestablishes a near field communication channel with a client device,transmits the file information system to a client device via the nearfield communication channel, and receives an edited file informationsystem from the client device; and a client device which establishes thenear field communication channel with the host device, copies the systeminformation file from the host device, executes an application selectedin the file information system, edits the file information system bymeans of the executed application, and transmits the edited fileinformation system to the host device via the near field communicationchannel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a host devicefor supporting the remote file information system management methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary hierarchal architecture of the fileinformation system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a clientdevice for supporting the remote file information system managementmethod according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a signaling diagram illustrating operations of the host andclient devices in the remote file information system management methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating communication between the host deviceand the client device of the remote file information system managementsystem according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a signaling diagram illustrating a procedure for editingphonebook information of the host device by means of a client device inthe remote file information system management method according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a signaling diagram illustrating a procedure for editing memoinformation of the host device by means of a client device in the remotefile information system management method according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a set of the host device and the clientdevice for supporting the remote file information system managementsystem according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating front views of the client device thatare presenting exemplary screen images related to file informationsystem management method according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described withreference to the accompanying drawings in detail. The same referencenumbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or likeparts. For the purposes of clarity and simplicity, detailed descriptionof well-known functions and structures incorporated herein may beomitted to avoid obscuring the subject matter of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a host devicefor supporting the remote file information system management methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1,the host device 100 includes a Radio Frequency (RF) unit 110, a shortrange wireless communication unit (or Near Field Communication; NFC)unit 120, a key input unit 130, a touchscreen 140, a storage unit 150,and a control unit 160.

The RF unit 110 is responsible for radio communication of the hostdevice 100 to transmit/receive data. The RF unit 110 can include an RFtransmitter for up-converting and amplifying the transmission signal andan RF receiver for low noise amplifying and down-converting the receivedsignal. The RF unit 110 also outputs the data received over the radiochannel to the control unit 160 and transmits the data output by thecontrol unit 160 over the radio channel.

The NFC unit 120 is responsible for data communication with a mobiledevice, particularly a client device 300 (see FIG. 3), via a contactlessconnection. The NFC is a technology for data communication between twodevices equipped with a contactless short range wireless communicationmodule operating at 13.56 MHz frequency band in the range of about 10cm, the NFC including Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). The NFC canbe implemented in one of a peer-to-peer mode, a Read/Write mode, a CardEmulation mode. If the NFC device can be connected directly to transmitdata such as video and contact data in the peer-to-peer mode, read andsave data in Read/Write mode, and perform contactless data transactionwith a smart chip built in a card in the Card Emulation mode. Accordingto an embodiment of the present invention, the NFC unit 120 establishesa connection with the client device 300 to transmit and receive controlsignal and/or data.

Further, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the NFCunit 120 can support at least one of Bluetooth, ZigBee, Ultra Wideband(UWB), and their equivalents.

The key input unit 130 generates an input signal corresponding to a keyinput by the user for controlling the host device 100 to the controlunit 160. The key input unit 130 can be implemented with a keypadincluding numeral keys, navigation keys, and function keys. In case thatthe touchscreen 140 supports all input commands necessary formanipulating of the host device 100, the key input unit 130 can beomitted.

The touchscreen 140 includes a touch sensing unit 141 and a display unit142. The touch sensing unit 141 detects a touch input made by the useron the touchscreen 140. The touch sensing unit 141 can be implementedwith one of capacitive overlay type, pressure type, resistive overlytype, infrared beam type sensors, or a pressure sensor. The touchsensing unit 141 can also be implemented with other type of sensingdevices that can detect a contact of or pressure by an object, as wellas the aforementioned sensors. The touch sensing unit 141 generates adetection signal corresponding to a touch input made by the user andtransfers the detection signal to the control unit 160. The detectionsignal includes coordinates at which the touch input made by the user.In case that the user makes a movement gesture without releasing thetouch mod on the screen, the touch sensing unit 141 generates thedetection signal including the coordinates on the movement path andtransfers the detection signal to the control unit 160.

The display unit 142 can be implemented with one of Liquid CrystalDisplay (LCD), Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED), and Active MatrixOrganic Light Emitting Diodes (AMOLED); and presets menus, user inputdata, function setting information, and other information to the user invisual data format. The display unit 142 displays a booting screen ofthe host device 100, a standby screen, a menu screen, a call progressingscreen, and other application execution screens.

Although the description is directed to the host device equipped withthe touchscreen 140, the present invention is not limited thetouchscreen-enabled device. Here, the touchscreen 140 can be replaced bya normal display device supporting only the function of the display unit142.

The storage unit 150 is responsible for storing programs and datanecessary for the operation of the host device 100 and can be dividedinto a program region and a data region. The program region can storethe program for controlling the operations of the host device 100, theOperating System (OS) for booting up the host device 100, applicationprograms necessary for playing multimedia contents, and applicationprograms necessary for supporting other optional functions of the hostdevice 100 such as camera function, audio playback function, and stilland motion picture playback function. The data region stores the datagenerated as a result of the operations of the host device 100 such asstill image, video, phonebook, and audio data.

Particularly in an embodiment of the present invention, the storage unit150 can include a host application storage region 151 and a fileinformation system storage region 152.

The host application storage region 150 is a region as a part of theprogram region for storing the applications related to the multimediacontent playback application, phonebook data, memo, and Short MessagingService (SMS). The term ‘host’ is used to emphasize the applicationstored in the host device 100 and differentiate the client applications,which are described later.

The file information system storage region 152 stores the predefinedarchitecture of the information on the operation of the host 100, systemfiles necessary for providing multimedia, and the application files. Thefile information system has a hierarchal structure of a top most folder,sub-system folder, and application folders; and each folder can includefiles and/or subfolders.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary hierarchal architecture of the fileinformation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the file information system includes a root folderas the top most folder, subsystem folders ‘ADROI’, ‘DCIM’, and ‘APPLDATA’. The ‘APPL DATA’ folder includes ‘first application’ folder,‘second application’ folder, and ‘third application’ folder; and eachapplication folder includes corresponding application files.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the fileinformation system can be transmitted to the client device 300, edited,and updated partially or fully according to the request made by theclient device 300.

The control unit 160 controls the operations of the internal functionblocks of the host device 100. Particularly in an embodiment of thepresent invention, the control unit 160 controls establishing connectionto the client device 300 via short range wireless communication channeland editing the information of the host device by means of the clientdevice 300 without changing the currently displayed screen.

In operation, when a file information system transfer (copy) request isreceived from the client device 300, the control unit 160 of the hostdevice 100 controls such that entire or some the folders of therequested file information system is transmitted to the client device300. When a file information system lock request is received from theclient device 300, the control unit 160 controls such that the fileinformation system saved in the file information system storage regionis locked. Also, when a file information system unlock request isreceived from the client device 300, the control unit 160 controls suchthat the locked file information system stored in the file informationsystem storage region is unlocked. Furthermore, when an edited fileinformation system is received from the client device 300, the controlunit 160 can update the old file information system with the receivedfile information system.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 160 caninclude a data format converter 161.

The data format converter 161 converts the data of application level(particularly, file information system) to a data format appropriate forshort range wireless communication. According to an embodiment of thepresent invention, the data format converter 161 can be the ObjectExchange (OBEX) protocol as a protocol for exchanging binary objectsbetween devices.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a clientdevice for supporting the remote file information system managementmethod according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 3, the client device 300 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention includes a NFC unit 310, a key input unit 320, a touchscreen330, a storage unit 340, an alarm generation unit 350, and a controlunit 360. The detailed descriptions on the features of the client device300 identical with those of the host device 100 that are described withreference to FIG. 1 are omitted to avoid redundancy.

The NFC unit 310 is responsible for data communication with the hostdevice 100 via a contactless connection.

The key input unit 320 generates an input signal corresponding to a keyinput by the user for controlling the client device 300 and transfersthe input signal to the control unit 160. In case that the touchscreen330 of the client device 300 supports all kind of inputs necessary formanipulating the client device 300, the key input unit 320 can omitted.

The touchscreen 330 includes a touch sensing unit 331 and a display unit332. The touch sensing unit 141 detects a touch input made by the user.Since the touch screen 330 of the client device 330 operates in the sameway as the touchscreen 140 of the host device 100 that has beenexplained already with reference to FIG. 1, thus detailed description onthe touchscreen 330 is omitted herein. According to an embodiment of thepresent invention, the touchscreen 330 can receive the signal input forediting the file system information received from the host device 100.

The storage unit 340 is responsible for storing the programs and datanecessary for the operation of the client device 300 and can be dividedinto a program region and a data region. In the embodiment of thepresent invention, the storage unit 340 can include a client applicationstorage region 341 for storing client applications. The clientapplication corresponds to the host application and is composed of someprogram functions related to the editing functions such as displaying,editing, and saving data among the program functions of the host device100. In an exemplary case of SMS application, if the host SMSapplication supports all of the SMS-related functions includingtransmission, setting, message composition, message saving, and messageediting functions; the client SMS application supports the messagecomposition, massage saving, message correcting, and message editingfunction except for the SMS transmission and setting functions.

When an alarm request signal is received from the control unit 360, thealarm generation unit 350 generates an alarm. The alarm can be output inthe form of a sound, light, and/or a vibration.

The control unit 360 controls the operations of the internal functionblocks of the client device 300. According to an embodiment of thepresent invention, the client device 300 is connected to the host device100 via a NFC channel, the control unit 360 accesses the fileinformation system of the host device 100 to copy the file informationsystem to the client device 300 and displays the file information systemon the screen. For this purpose, the control unit 360 can include a dataformat converter 361 and a file information system edit controller 362.

The data format converter 361 converts the file information systemreceived from the host device 100 via the NFC channel to a data formatexecutable in the application level. According to an embodiment of thepresent invention, the data format converter 161 can be the OBjectEXchange (OBEX) protocol as the protocol for exchanging binary objectsbetween devices. The data format converter 361 also converts the editedfile information system to a format appropriate for transmission overthe NFC channel.

The file information system edit controller 362 requests the host device100 to transmit the file information system and receives the fileinformation system transmitted by the host device 100. The fileinformation system edit controller 362 also polls the host device 100periodically to monitor whether it is necessary to edit or update thefile information system of the host device 100.

When a file information system edit command is input by the user, thefile information system edit controller 362 executes an applicationcorresponding to the edit command to display the related information onthe screen. For example, if the user accesses the memo application ofthe file information system displayed on the display unit 332 and entersthe edit command for editing a memo, the file information systemcontroller 362 executes the client memory application and displays amemo editing screen on the display unit 332.

In operation, when the file information system edit command is received,the file information system edit control unit 362 cam transmit a fileinformation system lock signal to the host device 100 to prevent thefile information system is edited in both the host device 100 and theclient device simultaneously. Upon receipt of the file informationsystem lock signal, the host device 100 locks its file informationsystem so as not to be modified. If an edit complete signal is received,the file information system edit control unit 362 transmits a fileinformation system unlock signal to the host device such that the editedfile information system can be written in the host device 100.

Although the description is directed to the case where the control unit360 includes the data format converter 361 and the file informationsystem edit controller 362 to execute different functions, the functionsof the data format converter 361 and the file information system editcontroller 362 can performed by the control unit 360 in an alternateembodiment.

FIG. 4 is a signaling diagram illustrating operations of the host andclient devices in the remote file information system management methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, the host device 100 and the client device 300 are incommunication with each other via an NFC connection (S405). Theconnection procedure can include a discovery process for discovering thecounterpart device to transmit data, an authentication process forauthenticating each other, and a connection establishment process forestablishing a physical channel between two devices.

Once the NFC connection is established between the host and clientdevices, the client device 300 accesses the file information system ofthe host device 100 through the NFC channel (S410). Next, the clientdevice 300 copies the file information system from the file informationsystem storage region 152 of the host device 100 and saves the copiedfile information system in its own storage unit 340. Here, the clientdevice 300 can copy all or a part of the file information system of thehost device 100. For example, the client device 300 can request to copyonly the file information system and SMS application. In the exemplaryembodiment of FIG. 4, it is assumed that the entire file informationsystem is copied and edited.

Once the file information system is acquired, the client device 300displays the file information system on the display unit 332. The fileinformation system can be structured as shown in FIG. 2. Although thefile information system depicted in FIG. 2 is the file informationsystem of the host device 100, the client device 300 can copy the samefile information system of the host device 100 while maintaining thestructure. That is, the file information system of the host device andthe file information system of the client device are the same.

Next, the client device 300 transmits a polling signal to the hostdevice 100 at a predetermined interval (S425). The client device 300determines whether a response signal is received from the host device100 in response to the polling signal (430). The polling response signalcan include information about whether the file information system storedin the host device 100 is changed after it is copied to the clientdevice 300.

If no polling response signal is received, the client device 300determines that the host device is out of the range and thus outputs analarm (S435).

If the polling response signal is received, the client device 300determines whether the file information system of the host device 100has been changed (S440). If it is determined that the file informationsystem of the host device 100 has been changed, the client device 300copies the file information system again through steps S411 to S445.Note that the polling response signal can include information aboutwhether the file information system stored in the host device 100 ischanged after it is copied to the client device 300.

The client device 300 executes the application selected by the useramong the applications contained in the file information system anddisplays the execution screen of the selected application. Next, theclient device 300 receives an edit command for the executed application(S450). In more detail, the client device 300 first displays theacquired file information system structured as shown in FIG. 2 on thedisplay unit 332. The user can select an application folder and executethe corresponding application. For example, if the SMS application isselected, the client device 300 executes the SMS application such thatthe SMS edit screen is displayed as shown in part (d) of FIG. 9. Theuser can edit the SMS-related data on the SMS edit screen.

When the file information system edit command is received, the clientdevice 300 transmits a file information system lock signal to the hostdevice 100 (S455). This is to prevent the host and client devices 100and 300 from editing the file information system simultaneously to causesynchronization failure. Upon receipt of the file information systemlock signal, the host device locks the file information system (S456).

If an edit complete signal is input (S460), the client device 300transmits a file information system unlock signal to the host device 100(465). Upon receipt of the file information system unlock signal, thehost device 100 unlocks the file information system such that it can beedited (S466).

Next, the client device 300 transmits the edited file information systemto the host device 100 (S470). If the edited file information system isreceived, the host device 100 updates the old file information systemstored in the file information system storage region with the editedfile information system (475). Steps S465 to S466 can be explained as aprocess in which the client device 300 access the host device 100through the NFC channel to write the edited file information system inthe file information system storage region of the host device 100.

A description is made of the remote file information system managementmethod in more detail with an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention. In the exemplary embodiment, the user edits the SMS, Email,memo, and phonebook data of the host device 100 by means of the clientdevice 300.

In FIG. 5, the host device 100 of FIG. 1 and the client device 300 ofFIG. 3 are depicted in hierarchal structure. That is, the internalfunction blocks are arranged according to the signal and data flows.

As shown in FIG. 5, the host device 100 includes the file informationsystem 510. In this case, the sub-application of the file informationsystem 510 includes a host SMS/Email application 511, a Host phonebookapplication 512, and a host memo application 513. The host device 100includes a data format converter 161 for converting the file informationsystem to a format appropriate for transmission via NFC connection orconverts the data received over the NFC connection to the fileinformation system format and a NFC unit 120 establishing the NFCconnection.

The client device 300 includes an NFC unit 310 for establishing the NFCconnection and a data format converter 361. The client device 300 alsoincludes a client SMS/Email application 514, a client phonebookapplication 515, and a client memo application 516. The client device300 also includes a file information system edit controller 362 forediting the file information system.

A description is made of the information edit method according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIGS. 5and 6. Particularly in the signaling diagram in FIG. 6, the phonebookinformation of the host device 100 is edited by means of the clientdevice 300.

In FIG. 6, the host device 100 and the client device 300 connect to eachother via NFC connection (S605). Once the NFC connection is established,the client device 300 accesses the file information system of the hostdevice 100 (S610) and requests the host device 100 for the phonebookinformation (S615), for example. Upon receipt of the phonebookinformation request, the host device 100 converts the phonebookinformation to a vCard File (vcf) (S620) and transmits the vcf file tothe client device 300 (S625). In FIG. 6, note that the process forconverting the vcf file to a format appropriate for the NFC standard isreadily apparent to those skilled in this art, thus omitted.

Upon receipt of the vcf file, the client device 300 converts thereceived vcf file to the phonebook information by means of the clientphonebook application 515 (S630). Next, the client device 300 displaysthe recovered phonebook information (data) on the display unit (S635).The phonebook information displayed on the client device 300 includescontact items, each having a photo and name, ordered from the top to thebottom as shown in part (a) of FIG. 9.

If a phonebook edit command is input, the client device 300 displays aphonebook edit screen (S640). An exemplary phonebook edit screen isshown in part (d) of FIG. 9. The phonebook edit screen of the clientdevice 300 is identical with that of the phonebook edit screen of thehost device 100. As shown in part (d) of FIG. 9, the user can edit thename, phone number, email, address, group, and organization of a certainsubscriber listed in the phone book.

If a phonebook edit complete command is input, the client device 300stores the edited phonebook information and converts the storedphonebook information to the vcf (S645). Next, the client device 300transmits the vcf to the host device 100 (650).

Upon receipt of the vcf, the host device 100 converts the vcf to thephonebook information by means of the host phonebook application (S655)and updates the phonebook data of the file information system (S660).

FIG. 7 is a signaling diagram illustrating a procedure for editing memoinformation of the host device by means of a client device in the remotefile information system management method according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

First, the host device 100 and the client device 300 connect to eachother via an NFC connection (S705). Once the NFC connection isestablished the client device 300 accesses the file information systemof the host device 100 (S710) and requests the hosts device 100 for thememo information (S715), for example.

Upon receipt of the memo information request, the host device 100converts the memo information to a format appropriate for the NFCtransmission (S720) and transmits the converted memo information to theclient device 300 (S725).

Upon receipt of the converted memo information, the client device 300recovers the original memo information from the converted memoinformation by means of the client memo application (730) and displaysthe recovered memo information on the display unit (S735). Next, theclient device 300 edits the memo information according to the user'sedit command (S740).

If a memo edit complete command is input, the client device 300 convertsthe edited memo information to a format appropriate for NFC transmission(S745) and transmits the converted memo information to the host device100 (S750).

Upon receipt of the converted memo information, the host device recoversthe original edited memo information from the converted memo informationreceived via the NFC connection (S755). Next, the host device 100updates the old memo information with the edited memo information bymeans of the host memo application (S760).

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a set of the host device and the clientdevice for supporting the remote file information system managementsystem according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 8, the client device 300 is presence nearby the hostdevice 100. The client device 300 connects to the host device 100 via anNFC channel so as to edit the information stored in the host device 100without need of changing the currently displayed screen of the hostdevice 100. At the right part of FIG. 8, the client 300 is depicted withan exemplary screen displaying the phonebook information.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating front views of the client device thatare presenting exemplary screen images related to file informationsystem management method according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

In parts (a) and (c) of FIG. 9, the client device 300 displays a contactlist screen and a contact edit screen by means of the display unit 332.The client device 300 is provided with the client phonebook application.When the file information system is received from the host device 100,the client device 300 displays the phonebook screen and executes theedit function by means of the client phonebook application.

Part (b) of FIG. 9 shows the memo information edit screen, and part (d)of FIG. 9 shows the message information display and edit screen that theclient device can manipulate to perform the corresponding function.

As described above, the remote file information system management systemand method of the present invention is capable of establishing an NFCconnection between the host and client devices such that the user canedit the information of the host device by mean of the client device.Accordingly, the remote file information system management system andmethod of the present invention is advantageous to edit the informationof the host device without changing or closing the currently displayedscreen of the host device.

The above-described methods according to the present invention can berealized in hardware or via the execution of software or computer codethat can be stored in a recording medium such as a CD ROM, an RAM, afloppy disk, a hard disk, or a magneto-optical disk or downloaded over anetwork, so that the methods described herein can be executed by suchsoftware using a general purpose computer, or a special processor or inprogrammable or dedicated hardware, such as an ASIC or FPGA. As would beunderstood in the art, the computer, the processor or the programmablehardware include memory components, e.g., RAM, ROM, Flash, etc. that maystore or receive software or computer code that when accessed andexecuted by the computer, processor or hardware implement the processingmethods described herein.

Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed in detail hereinabove with specific terminology, this is forthe purpose of describing particular embodiments only and not intendedto be limiting of the invention. While particular embodiments of thepresent invention have been illustrated and described, it would beobvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes andmodifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mobile device comprising: a communication unitto transmit and receive a signal; a touch screen to display a screen; amemory to store data; and a controller coupled with the communicationunit, the memory and the touch screen and configured to: display ascreen of a first application being executed in the mobile device,transmit, to an external device, data of a second application whiledisplaying the screen of the first application, receive, from theexternal device, edited data of the second application while displayingthe screen of the first application, and update the data of the secondapplication by storing the edited data of the second application, whiledisplaying the screen of the first application.
 2. The mobile device ofclaim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to: receive arequest message for editing data, convert a first format of the data ofthe second application to a second format, and transmit the data of thesecond application of the second format to the external device.
 3. Themobile device of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configuredto: lock the data of the second application when a first signal isreceived from the external device, and unlock the data of the secondapplication when a second signal is received from the external device.4. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to: receive a polling signal from the external device, andtransmit a response signal to the external device.
 5. The mobile deviceof claim 1, wherein the data of the second application comprises atleast one of a folder or a file of the second application.
 6. The mobiledevice of claim 1, wherein the second application comprises at least oneof a message, an email, a memo, a contact, a schedule and a mediacontent.
 7. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the data of the secondapplication is transmitted in response to a request from the externaldevice.
 8. An external device comprising: a communication unit totransmit and receive a signal; a touch screen to display a screen; amemory to store data; and a controller coupled with the communicationunit, the memory and the touch screen and configured to: receive data ofan application from a mobile device, display a screen of the applicationto edit the received data of the application, receive an input editingthe received data of the application, and transmit the edited data ofthe application to the mobile device to update the data stored in themobile device, wherein a screen of an application being executed in themobile device is displayed by the mobile device while the externaldevice receives the data from the mobile device and transmits the editeddata to the mobile device.
 9. The external device of claim 8, whereinthe controller is further configured to: transmit a request message forediting data to the mobile device, receive the data of the applicationof a first format, convert the first format of the data of theapplication to a second format to edit the data, convert the secondformat of edited data to the first format to transmit to the mobiledevice, and transmit the edited data of the application of the secondformat to the mobile device.
 10. The external device of claim 8, whereinthe controller is further configured to: transmit, to the mobile device,a first signal to lock the data of the application to prevent the databeing edited by the mobile device, and transmit, to the mobile device, asecond signal to unlock the data of the application after editing thereceived data.
 11. The external device of claim 8, wherein thecontroller is further configured to: transmit a polling signal to themobile device for a predetermined interval, and generate an alarm when aresponse signal is not received from the mobile device within thepredetermined interval.
 12. The external device of claim 8, wherein thedata of the application comprises at least one of a folder or a file ofthe application.
 13. The external device of claim 8, wherein theapplication comprises at least one of a message, an email, a memo, acontact, a schedule and a media content.
 14. The external device claim1, wherein the data of the application is received in response to arequest to the mobile device.
 15. A method of a mobile device,comprising: displaying a screen of a first application being executed inthe mobile device, via a touch screen, transmitting, to an externaldevice via a communication unit, data of a second application whiledisplaying the screen of the first application, receiving, from theexternal device via the communication unit, edited data of the secondapplication while displaying the screen of the first application, andupdating the data of the second application by storing the edited dataof the second application in a memory, while displaying the screen ofthe first application.
 16. A method of an external device, comprising:receiving data of an application from a mobile device, via acommunication unit, displaying a screen of the application to edit thereceived data of the application, via a touch screen, receiving an inputediting the received data of the application, via the touch screen, andtransmitting the edited data of the application to the mobile device toupdate the data stored in the mobile device, via the communication unit,wherein a screen of an application being executed in the mobile deviceis displayed by the mobile device while the external device receives thedata from the mobile device and transmits the edited data to the mobiledevice.